Middlesbrough rely on British grit
There was a real danger of this article sounding like a society newsletter, simply going through the formalities of listing the successes of its members over the Easter period. I would have to congratulate Arsenal on reaching the European Cup final. I would also congratulate Chelsea on a fine Premiership season and an almost certain back-to-back championship. I’m sure these will be revisited if and when these successes are realised, but with so much still to be decided it is hard to praise or criticise the efforts of teams at the top and bottom. Will Spurs or Arsenal be playing Champions League football next season? Who will go down? Who will get the last UEFA Cup spots? With so much to be decided, and taking account of the number of shocks the Premiership has thrown up this season, surely it is best to just see where the wind takes us. So I did. But it was not the rigour of the domestic campaign that provided me with inspiration. It was the magic of the continent.
Sitting at a steady but modest 14th place, Middlesbrough’s Premiership campaign is finished. Knocked out of the FA Cup in the semi-finals, ‘Boro were left only one chance for glory. As one of the longest surviving English participants in European football this season, they have outlasted Man United, Chelsea and Liverpool; no mean feat by anyone’s standards. Thanks to a spectacular, gritty performance against Basle, ‘Boro managed to secure a semi-final tie with Steaua Bucharest in the UEFA cup. At home after a 1-0 defeat away in Bucharest, it was not looking good after conceding 2 early away goals. Just in case you didn’t know, they scored 4 and won the tie. A repeat performance of the previous round which, in some sense, parallels the closing minutes of the 1999 Champions League Final. To do that twice is an unbelievable feat, possibly, a footballing miracle, securing a place in the final where they will meet Sevilla. Admittedly, this is a pretty poor match report. To merely deliver a match report, however, would be selling it far short of how great this actually was.
Contextually, they have only done what Arsenal have done and haven’t actually won anything yet. But Middlesborough have done something great that only we do best: perform under pressure and overcome adversity. This is why we love the ‘magic’ of the FA Cup. It’s refreshing to see a re-emergence of the underdog. Like Liverpool a year ago, Middlesbrough defied belief by digging deep and getting the job done. We see the epitome of Britishness in an age when we are asking how British our game actually is. Inspired by their valiant captain Steven Gerrard, Liverpool fought back 3 second-half goals to take Milan to penalties and win. That took ultimate belief, courage and mental strength in arguably the second biggest game in the world. Middlesborough, a rising club with a strong British backbone, have overcome adversity with little experience at the highest level. Now they have the chance to win only their second piece of major silverware in the club’s history.
It seems bizarre that it’s a British thing to do. All these teams, United in ’99, Liverpool in ‘05 and now Middlesborough, all have a very strong international influence and other teams do make comebacks like this. Do we just love it more? It seems, in these cases, that the British influence has been the edge. From player’s reports, the inspiration of Ferguson and McLaren gave them the lift they needed and the belief to never give up. Gerrard’s visible impact on the game in Istanbul was more than clear to those watching. I can’t decide whether it is fair to call it a British trait as it is often labelled, but it seems that the underdogs thrive on British grit. I started by looking at the questions this season still has to answer. We still seem divided when it comes to our English representatives in Europe but I think, if not purely for the truly remarkable performances alone, we all want Steven McLaren’s Middlesbrough to succeed in Eindhoven, for the sake of British grit.
By Sean Henderson
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT
